Heart Scope
by Lumos314
Summary: When Trucy is hiding something about her day at school, Athena thinks the mysterious Heart Scope program on Widget might be able to help. What she doesn't expect is for it to take them on a journey through Trucy's worst fears. Oneshot.


Author's Note: I listened to Reminiscence ~ Tragic Memories while writing this. You may or may not want to do the same. :)

While I'm at it, I don't own Ace Attorney. ;)

* * *

The sun streamed in from the windows of the Wright Anything Agency as I fiddled around with a hidden folder I'd found buried in Widget's memory. I browsed through programs lazily, only running one here or there. Most were simple things like minesweeper, chess, and some game with puzzles named "Layman" or something, but I'd never seen them before so I was fascinated.

"Hi, Athena!" I looked up to see Trucy bounding in the door, clearly just getting back from school. She dumped her backpack on the ground, slipped off her shoes, and flopped on the couch across from me.

"Hi! How was school?" I smiled, and she did the same.

"Great! There was this kid in choir who…" She continued the story, but I had zoned out. She hadn't flinched, but the discord in that first word had been overwhelming; I had to stop myself from slapping my hands over my ears.

When I realized she was looking up at me expectantly, I spoke up. "Umm...What was that again?" I said as I surreptitiously started up the Mood Matrix.

"Oh, today in choir Benny fell-"

"No, I meant before that."

Trucy raised her eyebrows. "You mean about how my day went? It was great!"

"Got it!" She recoiled a bit, probably from the volume. "Oops...Sorry. Force of habit." I grinned sheepishly before continuing, gesturing at Widget's holographic screen. "The sadness marker was blinking quite a bit, as well as the anger one. If your day was really so 'great', why would that be?"

She sat for a moment, unusually straight-faced, pondering her answer. "...I don't have to tell you."

"What?" Now it was my turn to be surprised. I wasn't used to people refusing a therapy session.

"This isn't court; I don't have to 'testify'". She grinned. "Plus, I'm not sad!"

"But-"

"Ooh, look at that awesome bird!" She pointed out the window and I turned to look. Before I knew what was happening, all my hair suddenly fell in my face.

"Ack!" I shoved it aside and saw that my blue ribbon was now tied around my wrist, even though I hadn't felt a thing. I laughed. "Nice, Trucy."

She beamed. "I try," she said with a wink.

There was still a hint of that fear, though, which reminded me of the original topic. _Hmm...What can I do to get her to talk?_ I thought to myself. Then I remembered a program I had seen during my exploration of Widget. It was called the Heart Scope, and it had four different modes: happiness, fear, anger, and shock, kind of like the Mood Matrix. I hadn't tried it yet, but maybe she would be a good test subject.

"...Hey, Trucy?"

She looked up from the coin she was fiddling with. "Yeah?"

"I was playing with Widget earlier and found this new program. Wanna help me figure out what it is?"

She smiled again. "Sure!"

"Awesome! Let me just pull it up…" I clicked on the icon and waited. After a moment of loading, the holographic desktop disappeared. In its place, a beam shot out and engulfed Trucy with pulsing, blue light.

Then everything went dark.

* * *

I can't really say that I opened my eyes. It was more like an image just appeared in my head. I couldn't feel my body at all, so I wasn't able to move or talk, but I could see Trucy a few feet away, her wrists, ankles, and torso bound by thick, leather straps to a large table. She was struggling, trying to remove the ties, but couldn't break free.

After a few moments of this, I saw something dangling from the ceiling, slowly spinning downward. When it finally came into view Trucy gasped. It was a giant spider about the size of her head, and it was about to land on her stomach! The instant its legs touched her dress, she started shivering. I tried in vain to reach over, but I still couldn't move. _You're fine. You're Trucy Wright and you're fine, _I thought as hard as I could. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I figured I might as well try.

Helpless, the two of us watched as it began to wrap its silk around Trucy and the table. It wound and wound, faster and faster. She was shaking and her eyes were watering; I wanted to do something, anything to help her, but I couldn't.

Then suddenly it stopped, and again, we were thrust into darkness.

* * *

This time, she was free from restraints. However, she was on stage, poised over a peculiar box in her magician's costume, saw in hand.

"What's wrong, Trucy? They're all waiting!" I was startled by hearing Apollo's voice, before I realized his head was sticking out from one end of the said box, and his feet out the other.

"...I don't know..." She sounded confused and unsure, but was still smiling at the audience.

"Come on! Just saw straight down, remember? Then I'll take care of the rest." I should have realized something was off when he said that; since when has a magic trick been up to him rather than Trucy? But I didn't, and she followed those directions. She sawed and sawed, staring straight out at the crowd again, only stopping when the tip of the blood drenched tool splashed in the pool of red on the floor and the box was in two parts. She looked down at the scene before her, realizing what must have happened, and screamed, "APOLLO!"

* * *

Outside the Wright Anything Agency, two lawyers, one in blue and one in red, were having an intense discussion.

"Objection! He's totally using a stepladder!" Phoenix said as they watched the man across the street replace a lightbulb.

"What are you talking about?! That's clearly a ladder! What's the difference, anyway?" Apollo slammed his fist on the wall to emphasize his point.

The man in blue opened his mouth to reply, but before any words came out, a terrified shriek reached their ears. As one, they exchanged glances, said "Trucy!" and ran into the office.

They were unprepared for the sight that awaited them. Athena was sitting on one of the red couches, eyes closed and unmoving. Her mouth was open as if to scream, but no sound was coming out. Some water could be seen seeping out from under her eyelids.

But, as horrified as Athena looked, Trucy was worse. Widget's beam of light was still surrounding her, undulating and pulsing. Her eyes were wide open, and she was shrieking Apollo's name in between harsh sobs that wracked her frame. Tears streamed down her face, and she was visibly shaking.

"Trucy! Trucy, I'm right here!" The red lawyer waved his hand in front of her eyes, but she was unresponsive. He tried tapping and then shaking her, shouting as loudly as his Chords of Steel would allow, but it was of no use.

Suddenly, she stopped mid-wail. Her expression became confused, and her tears slowed. However, it was clear that she was still unaware of her surroundings.

Apollo sank to the floor in defeat. "What's going on here...?"

Phoenix joined him after having watched in shock and pain. "I don't know. If it doesn't stop soon...we need to get someone over here to look at them."

"But...who?"

The elder of the two shook his head slowly. "I don't know..." There was a small gasp, and they turned to look at their friends, helpless and worried.

* * *

Now it was just an empty room, with grey walls and little lighting. Despite that, I could clearly see Trucy standing a little ways away from three figures: myself, Apollo, and Mr. Wright, all engaged in an intense discussion.

"Ugh, there she is again." My boss spoke with uncharacteristic disgust. Even though he was whispering, I could hear him quite well.

"Someone has to go talk to her." Apollo said. "Athena, how about you?" He looked at the copy of me, who quickly recoiled.

"Ew! Not me! Do you know how much sadness is always in her voice? It's so awful; it hurts my head!" My double said with a red Widget around her neck. _Whoa, hang on a second, me! _"Boss, you should go."

"Hey! I have to live with her! It should be Apollo."

"But I don't want to! And besides, why do you have to live with her? Can't you just abandon her like her parents did?"

There was a moment's silence as Mr. Wight pondered this. I looked back at Trucy, who, judging by the expression on her face, knew exactly what they were saying, and exactly who they meant.

My boss shrugged his shoulders. "That's actually a pretty good point, Apollo. I don't know why I never saw the solution before! It would have saved me a ton of problems."

At that point, Trucy burst into fresh tears. The three looked over and rolled their eyes. "Ugh, now she's crying."

"Let's just get this over with. We'll _all_ go." Apollo gestured to the others, who slumped in defeat and followed.

My double got there first, and started to talk. "You're so weak." The last word was punctuated by a shove to Trucy's shoulders. She collapsed, tears still sliding down her cheeks. "What did you do this time? Did your stupid little 'Mr. Hat' break?"

"Oh, I hope so." Mr. Wright chipped in. "He drives me crazy."

There was a moment of silence where Trucy tried to reply, but couldn't form the words.

"I asked you a question!" Widget returned to glowing red, and Athena's formerly bored expression twisted into a scowl. The three of them started inching forward, and Trucy responded by sliding slowly backwards.

"O-oh…" Trucy hesitated. "Um...My, uh, goldfish died…"

Three people then spoke all at once. "Yeah, right!" Widget beeped.

"You don't even have a goldfish." Mr. Wright said impatiently.

However, their words were both swallowed by Apollo's, "GOTCHA!" He glared at the girl, before saying, "My bracelet reacted, you're lying. TELL US THE TRUTH!" Trucy cowered from his Chords of Steel and immediately obliged.

"You...You're being mean to me…"

The three gave her a look and rolled their eyes. "Really? We're being _mean_? You're so pathetic."

"Maybe you should just leave. Then we wouldn't have to deal with you and you don't have to be a crybaby because we're _mean_."

"Yeah. Just go. And never come back."

"N-never?"

"We wouldn't miss you; it's not like we care." They had backed Trucy into a corner, surrounding and towering over her.

"I...I..." She broke, sobbing harder and more uncontrollably than I'd ever seen before.

"You're worthless." Finally, with those last, contemptuous words, the vision dissolved, bursting into dust.

* * *

The world was too bright, and I blinked. _Wait, I'm blinking?_ The Wright Anything Agency came into focus as I realized I could feel my body. It took me a moment to register what was going on. Trucy was on the couch across from me, eyes shut and weeping. I put two and two together and started to comprehend the situation. Those visions had been her hallucinations; I was just an observer.

I quickly sat down next to her. "Shh…It's over now," I whispered soothingly as I began to stroke her head. The sadness and fear in her voice was overwhelming, and tears started to pour down my cheeks as well. "It's okay. It was all just in your mind."

She curled up in my lap, crying into my chest. "But…" she sobbed. "It...It all felt so _real_…"

A sudden movement off to my side caught my eye, and I saw Apollo standing with Mr. Wright. "Trucy! Athena! You're alright!"

However, Trucy was still shaking in my arms, so I turned my attention to her and ignored them. "It was just a dream. You're fine. Everything's okay."

"But you...and Apollo...and Daddy…"

"Shh...Apollo's fine. He just asked if we were alright. And that last vision wasn't us. We love you, Trucy, and I promise that we would _never, ever_ act like that. You mean so much to us." At this, we both fell silent. Apollo came over and took Trucy's old spot, wrapping his arms around us both, and Mr. Wright grabbed her hand and kissed the top of her head.

The four of us stayed there for a long time; the sun was just about to slip under the horizon when our tears finally slowed.

"So...What exactly was happening? Mr. Wright and I came in here when Trucy started screaming, and you both were crying. But when we tried to get your attention you wouldn't respond." Fear and shock were laced through his story. He was clearly worried by our behavior.

"Well...I found a new program on Widget...and needless to say it worked differently than I had anticipated." I didn't want to tell about what I had seen; it was Trucy's decision, not mine, to disclose that information.

"It...it took me through my worst fears..." She murmured, barely loud enough for us to hear.

"Oh." Suddenly, it all clicked. I had chosen the "fear" option of the Heart Scope, hoping to reveal the reason for the sadness and anxiety in Trucy's voice. Instead, it made her experience her deepest, most hidden fears. I suppose, in a strange, ironic way I had gotten what I wanted. "I'm so sorry..."

"What for?"

"It's my fault this happened. No one should ever have to go through something like that, but you did. I can't apologize enough."

"It's alright." Her voice was soft and bittersweet, and I knew she truly meant it.

After a moment of silence, Apollo spoke up. "If you ever want to talk about it, we're here, Trucy."

"We won't think less of you, I promise. That wasn't us you saw," I added.

She smiled slowly. "I...I think I do…" Mr. Wright sat down, still holding Trucy's hand, as she told us about those visions. Everything matched up to what I had experienced, except that she could move and everything felt truly _real_. Halfway through, her tears started to fall again, as did mine. "I've just...I've always been so afraid that I'm only a nuisance. That my parents left because they didn't love me…And that all of you are being fake." I could hear the pain in her voice; saying these things was so hard for her, but she kept going.

"Trucy…" Apollo began. "I never realized it was so hard for you." He wrapped his arms around her, and she returned the hug. "But you don't have to worry. You're like a sister to me. Sometimes, you're slightly annoying. Mostly when you try to ship me with every girl under the sun." At that she poked her tongue out, tapping her top hat. "But I still love you, Trucy. And I know what it's like to have your parents abandon you. If you ever need some comfort, I'm here to empathize."

She was still crying as she gripped Apollo tighter, but there was happiness and relief in her voice as she said, "Thank you. You're the best non-related brother I could ever have."

I let them have their moment before I piped up. "Everything he said applies to me, too. Except for the shipping and the parents thing." She turned, still holding him, and smiled at me. "And, I can promise that we're not being fake. You'd be able to tell with your perceiving ability." I smirked. "Plus, I wear a necklace that changes color with my emotions and shouts whatever I'm thinking. You'd know pretty quickly if I was lying." I winked at her, and she giggled.

Mr. Wright was still sitting there, being strangely quiet. "Is something up, boss?"

He jumped just slightly, and said, "What? Oh...I was just trying to decide something…"

Apollo perked up at this. "What is it?"

"Well...Trucy," she turned and let go of her "brother", sensing this was important. "Your mother never abandoned you."

"What do you mean? She left for work one day and just never came home."

"That's because she was in an accident. She was practicing 'Zak & Valant's Quick-Draw Shootem' with your dad and uncle...And they messed up. She was seriously injured, and to cover it up your grandpa moved her to another country…" We were all silent for a moment before he continued. "She never left on purpose; she loves you too much."

"...Loves?"

"I meant loved."

At once, all three of us said, "No you didn't."

Mr. Wright laughed. "All right. We can discuss this another time. I need to...think about how to approach this. In the meantime, would you both like to spend the night? It could be a 'sibling' sleepover."

"Oh, that sounds amazing! Please?" Trucy wiped her cheeks and grinned.

I giggled. "I like that idea. I'll drive over to my apartment and pick up some stuff. How about a movie and popcorn?"

"Can you drive me to mine, too?" Apollo said. "I can grab a board game or something."

"Yay!" The sadness in Trucy's voice was completely gone, finally, and I smiled.

The two of us stood up and prepared to leave. As we were walking out the door, Trucy ran up and wrapped her arms around us. "Thank you. For everything today."

Apollo and I grinned. "It's the least we could do for our sister.

* * *

Author's Note: I got this idea randomly the other day when I was thinking about the Fear Landscape from Divergent (Which I based the Heart Scope off of). I started thinking of what would happen if someone from Ace Attorney got thrown into their worst fears, and of how Trucy is the only major character I can think of that we don't see in a vulnerable moment. She's always cheery, bouncy, happy. So I wanted to explore both of those ideas, and this came about. :D

I realize that Trucy only has three fear situations displayed here. The original Fear Landscape, for those of you who don't know, takes characters through all of their fears, major and minor. However, I didn't want to do that, because I could think of so many little, inconsequential worries for Trucy and I didn't want to bore anyone. So I narrowed it down to six, all of which are incorporated somehow.

Also, yes I did copy the name from the original translation of the Mood Matrix. ;) Sometimes I'm not very creative. ;D

Thank you for reading, and, if you're going to, for reviewing or favoriting! :D


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